PurposeIn patients with a high life expectancy at the time of surgery for colorectal cancer CRC, the long-term outcome may be influenced by factors other than their cancer. We aimed to investigate the long-term outcome and cause of death beyond a 5-year surveillance programme.

MethodsWe evaluated the overall survival OS and cancer-specific survival CSS of a population-based cohort of stage I–III CRC patients <75 years old who completed a systematic surveillance programme.

ResultsIn total, 161 patients <75 years old, 111 69 % of whom were node negative pN0, were included. The median follow-up time was 12.1 years. The OS was 54 % at 15 years and differed significantly between the pN0 and pN+ patients 65 vs. 30 %; P ConclusionsThe long-term survival beyond 5-year survivorship for stage I–III CRC is very good. Nonetheless, cancer-related deaths are encountered in one-third of patients and occur most frequently in patients who are <65 years old at disease onset—pointing to a still persistent risk several years after surgery.